Nixon Tapes

The Nixon White House Tapes consist of approximately 3700 hours of recordings
containing approximately 2800 hours of recorded conversations between
President Nixon, his staff, and visitors at locations in the Oval Office;
the President's Executive Office Building hideaway office; the Cabinet
Room; various White House telephones in the Oval Office, EOB and the Lincoln
Sitting Room; and at various Camp David locations. These recordings were
produced surreptitiously, without the knowledge of most of the participants.

Following the negotiated Tapes Settlement Agreement of 1996, between the
National Archives, the Nixon Estate, and Public Citizen, the Nixon Presidential
Materials Staff (NLNS) began a review of all the Nixon White House tapes
in chronological segments. For each of these chronological segments entire
conversations, as determined by the tapes reviewers, were reviewed and
opened in full context. To date the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff
has reviewed and opened approximately one thousand four hundred and forty-four
(1444) hours of the complete conversations from the Nixon White House
tapes for public access.

In this conversation the President and Secretary Connally
are complaining about Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns' tendency
to comment on areas of policy, such as Social Security, that are outside
what they consider his appropriate authority. In passing, the President
mentions that Burns has even opined that he believes Social Security
should be on a pay-as-you-go basis. This is fundamental financing
issue for Social Security and clearly the President and Connally think
it is not Burns' place to comment on such matters. This conversation
is noteworthy because the President clearly states his view that pay-as-you-go
is the proper financing basis for Social Security.

During this discussion Office of Management & Budget
Director, George Schultz, briefs the President on the potential impacts
of a change in the Social Security wage-base. The Congress is considering
the Administration's bill, H.R.1, and in doing so is contemplating
making additional changes to the wage-base, beyond those recently
enacted. Schultz explains to the President how the wage-base and tax
revenues interact and they then go on to explore the potential impact
of the changes being considered on the unified budget for the government.

During this discussion George Schultz briefs the President
on his recent conversations with Ways & Means Chairman Wilbur
Mills (D-AR) and Ranking Member John Byrnes (R-WI) concerning H.R.
1. The Administration is trying to find a strategy to gain support
for H.R. 1 and is considering adding revenue sharing provisions as
a way to get Mills' support.

In the second part of this conversation, Shultz and the President
continue exploring the same line, diverting a time or two to discuss
other matters then returning the issue of the politics of welfare
reform.

Participants: The President met with John D.
Ehrlichman and George P. Shultz.

In this brief exchange, the President discusses with
Ehrlichman and Schultz recent Congressional actions regarding Social
Security COLAs. Ehrlichman and the President tout the positive political
payoffs with the elderly and Shultz mentions the potential budget
impact.

Participants: The President met with H.R. ("Bob")
Haldeman and Charles W. Colson.

In this conversation, the President and his aids are
reviewing potential issues for the 1972 election campaign. The conversation
briefly touches on Social Security and the Administration's Family
Assistance Plan (FAP. There are strong expressions of the President's
views on welfare reform. This conversation is notable because it suggests
that President Nixon may not have been a strong supporter of the FAP
that his Administration had been developing. The President makes clear
that welfare reform is a much higher priority for him than the FAP.

The Attorney General is calling Ehrlichman to report
that California Governor Ronald Reagan is complaining about a speech
by HEW Undersecretary John Veneman in which Veneman discussed the
Administration's policies on welfare reform. Ehrlichman assures Mitchell
that this is just political maneuvering between Reagan and HEW Secretary
Elliot Richardson over California's participation in a HEW demonstration
project and not an expression of some deeper Administration policy.

As part of the Nixon Administration price controls,
there was an effort to control rents, through the Administration's
Rent Control Program. In this Cabinet meeting there is a conversation
about the ability of Social Security recipients to afford high rents.
There is also mention of the role of the Social Security Administration
in helping publicize the Administration's Rent Control Program. SSA
Commissioner Robert M. Ball was in attendance at this Cabinet meeting.

During this Cabinet meeting the discussion focuses on
the pending Congressional action to raise the government spending
ceiling. The excerpt opens with OMB Deputy Director Caspar Weinberger
talking about the potential impacts of the budget ceiling legislation
on Social Security and on H.R. 1, which was the Administration's major
welfare reform bill. The conversation ranges widely over the budget
and the debt ceiling and related subjects.